In the early days of internet marketing, things were relatively easy. In a field often lacking in competition, a small business with a simple website and an ambitious and forward-looking marketing plan could kludge together a few images and a couple lines of text into a viable online presence. But those days quickly passed, and online marketing became a complex and multifaceted struggle between huge, well-funded behemoths and small, agile operations looking to innovate and disrupt their way into a fortune.

And with the change in scale came a change in customer expectation. Where in the past a slipshod web presence might be excused, nowadays, customers demand high-quality web services available across multiple platforms and capable of dealing with traffic. Online marketing is no longer an afterthought or a way to try something new; instead, it is a built-in part of any business model. And building that web presence is not the only component of success in this competitive environment. You are also expected to keep up with web trends, shifting design elements to keep your site noticeable in the cutthroat worlds of SEO and e-commerce.

This infographic summarizes some of the most important tasks for you to do to keep up your online presence and web sales operations. As it points out, numerous kinds of vulnerabilities exist that can drag down your business and leave you open to new players. Keeping up on your e-commerce optimization is your only defense against the circling competitors, and a critical tool to keeping your business functional in a rapidly changing marketplace.